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State forensic lab backlog now at 3,800 cases

Proposed fentanyl penalties may make backlog worse

The State Police Forensic Laboratory is seeing more heroin and fentanyl cases than it can process.

State forensic lab backlog now at 3,800 cases

Proposed fentanyl penalties may make backlog worse

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Updated: 8:36 PM EST Nov 11, 2015

CONCORD, N.H. —

Already facing a backlog of thousands of cases, the state forensics lab could face even greater pressure to test drug samples as lawmakers move to increase penalties for people who deal the powerful painkiller fentanyl.

Gov. Maggie Hassan is likely to have a bill on her desk by early next year that puts penalties for fentanyl on par with heroin. State officials say the proposal is unlikely to lead many more samples to the lab because officers on the street generally send any unidentified powder there.

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But the lab prioritizes testing based on which court date is nearest, and an increased focus on fentanyl penalties could add to that load.

"They have never missed a case that we've asked them to test," Senior Assistant Attorney General James Vara said. "That being said, it is 'Can you test this right now?' It creates an unfathomable burden on them to test these things expeditiously."

The lab takes in about 750 samples per month but has the resources to test only 500, continually adding to a backlog that now sits at 3,800 cases.

"We owe it to our citizens to have these cases resolved in a timelier fashion," lab director Timothy Pifer said.

Fentanyl, alone or combined with other drugs, is responsible for 165 of the state's 258 overdose deaths so far this year, up from 17 deaths in 2011. Existing state law puts the maximum sentence for selling fentanyl at seven years, regardless of the amount. Heroin, by contrast, can carry a sentence of 15 to 30 years.

Heroin and fentanyl, or the two mixed together, make up about 30 percent of the samples that come to the forensics lab, Pifer said. Samples come to the lab from local, county and state police and in some cases, police officers may not charge individuals until they have the results.

"My hope is that with additional funding we can kind of close that gap and get, obviously, more cases analyzed and more prosecution of some of the supply cases," Pifer said.

The state budget passed earlier this fall increases the lab's budget by $1.1 million. That money will be used to purchase some new equipment and hire another drug criminalist, bringing the total of full-time criminalists to seven. An earlier budget veto delayed the lab's ability to start hiring and the job is just being posted. It still won't be enough to tackle the entire backlog, Pifer said.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley said he's willing to hear arguments to provide the lab with more money, but said funding and policy decisions around substance abuse shouldn't be rushed.

"I do think there may well need to be more dollars there," he said. "But I want to hear it in a public hearing."